Trial and Error
by NevaehNikol
Summary: You're trying. You're trying and you hope you're doing this right.


In which Dave tries to take care of his best bro

You smirk down at the sleeping troll. Wow. That's hella cute and you can't lie about it. You pop a squat right next to the sleeping body, tilting your head down to see over your shades.  
His breathing is soft and you can see the rise and fall of his chest. It's usually so labored or uneven. He shifts a bit, moving onto his side and resting his head on his hands. He looks so calm, like he doesn't have a care in the world. But, of course, that isn't true. Lately things on the meteor have been a bit more stressed than you'd ever admit.  
His 'best friend' seems to be coming around a lot less than usual. Not like he was around a lot before but…you know. Kanaya has been completely ignoring everyone that isn't Rose, including you. Rose is the same way. Their completely focused on each other. Not saying that's terrible or anything, but damn, talk to other people every once in a while. And Terezi…well she's not doing so well herself. She's been lost in her own way, you think.  
You reach your hand out and touch his hair. Woah. It's a lot softer than you thought. You smile, stroking it softly. This is really gay. But you feel it's right to do. You've always thought trolls were a lot like animals or something. They like petting and praise and food. Oh wait. You like those things too. Shit. You shake that thought away. That was weird.  
He moves a bit closer to your hand, pressing into it softly. You hear a soft purr-like noise. Like you said, animals or something. Your fingers curl into his hair gently pulling it. Your smile widens a bit as you chuckle. Hella cute.  
You sit down next to him, deciding you might as well go all the way with this. Moving your fingers down his cheek, you rub your thumb across his cheek. It's soft too. He makes a small noise and his eyebrows twitch, probably signifying he's close to waking up, but you don't really care. As you move your fingers over his face the purring noise grows louder. Though he's starting to move a lot more. You shrug inwardly, he's going to be so pissed.  
He lets out an aggressive sounding sigh. Yeah. He's definitely starting to wake up. You lightly run your fingers across his lips. He flinches away a bit before his teeth poke out to bite where you touched. You make a small noise in the back of your throat and he starts to stir.  
You quickly decide to continue anyway. Why not, right? You bring your thumb to his jaw, smiling as you see his eyes flutter open.  
"Morning Princess." You say nonchalantly, your thumb still grazing his jaw.  
He looks at you for a moment, looking more than a bit confused. His puzzled expression soon turns into a mixture of embarrassment and anger. He shoots up, shoving your hands away from his face. "Strider, what the fuck is wrong with you?" He shoots a deadly glare your way as his voice slowly gets quieter and he looks like something just hit him in the face. Your confusion fades as you hear what you think is the surprise to him. He's still purring. That soft sound in the back of his throat hasn't left yet. "Don't you say a goddamn word, you barfing nook-weed." He says threateningly, putting his hands to his throat.  
You open your mouth to say something, but his glare feels like nails so you decide not to. Instead you bring your hand up to his hair again. He doesn't refuse and stays extremely still during this process. Slowly inching your way closer to him, you bring your other hand up to his head. He doesn't mind this either. You smile softly as you pull his head towards you. He takes his hands off of his neck and wraps them around himself. He looks so defenseless like this. You press your lips to his forehead.  
This is a process that happens often. Gamzee has completely stopped coming around. Kanaya is 'too busy' and so is Rose. Terezi isn't talking to anyone, no one knows what's wrong with her. That leaves you and him. Who else is going to do this? Karkat is your bro and you can't just let your bro suffer. That's inhumane.  
So you took on the responsibility of what the trolls call a 'pale quadrant'. You don't get it, but he seems a lot better than he did before. He sleeps a lot better and he's like he used to be when you first started becoming bros. It's nice to see some form of normality in this place. He apologizes for being a burden a lot. You tell him not to worry. He also cries a lot and once again, you tell him not to worry. He seems to worry about a lot of nothing.  
You don't know if you're doing this whole 'pale' thing right, but you're trying.


End file.
